Future of New Orleans: Bright

[donsutherland1]

Thanks Dave.

[TSmith274]

donsutherland1, thanks for your post.

[inotherwords]

Mesohunter,

I disagree with the idea that it will cost trillions of dollars to rebuild New Orleans. Much of the downtown commercial district will not have to be torn down. In contrast, all of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were destroyed by the atomic blasts. The rebuilding there was a much larger task than what will be entailed in New Orleans.

Parts of the commercial district are on fire as we type. I am watching a live feed with a huge building completely in flames. Evidently there are three buildings afire. I hope they're able to keep it from spreading. This isn't due to an explosion, evidently people were torching buildings. But the national guard is there now so maybe they can halt these wackos from burning down what's left.

[crazycajuncane]

you're missing one big thing between your examples and New Orleans.

With the flooding, the city is sitting in a toxic stew. everything, every building... will have to be torn down. the soil will be toxic, the EPA will probably not allow the soil to remain, so in addition to rebuilding the levees and other drainage systems, the entire water and power infrastructure would have to be rebuilt from the ground up.

keep in mind the city water/elec systems 100 years ago are incredibly simplistic compared to modern day systems.

the cost is going to be incredible... we're talking trillions. yes, trillions when it comes to a final total. why so high? add in rebuilding utilities, buildings, food, records, the levee system, geological work, rebuilding the rest of the coast, cleaning out the contamination of the lake and river, attracting people, and whatever else needs to be done.

People don't get it.

New Orleans is sitting in toxic waste. The ground in which they walk on is toxic. A kid couldn't play in the grass... what grass?

My neighbor has a degree in agriculture and said to me last night that they might as well burn New Orleans to the ground if they ever wanna rebuild.

Water can only sit for so long. Every house has been compromised. The foundations are gone, the wood will develop mold. You can't just gut out the homes. It's not as easy as some are trying to make it seem. It's also not the end of the world.

I do believe we will see a New Orleans once again, but it might not all be in the same place. I don't see it ever (in my lifetime) getting to be as big as it was. This is the worst natural disaster in the history of the U.S.

Would you go back and live somewhere if you knew it could happen again? This is UNIQUE in the fact that when the water gets in... it doesn't just drain out. I'm sure Alabama and Mississippi will have electricity before they even done pumping the water out of New Orleans.

And then you pump the water into where? Contamination will spread and start to destroy our ecosystem. It's not even funny. You can't just pump the water out and kill all the animals.

[cajungal]

New Orleans will rise again. It may be go through tough times, but hopefully if we all work together, it could be back better than ever. We got a bit of tiding up to do before our welcome mat goes back out to you.

[caribepr]

Let's just keep pouring tens of billions into a city that can be destroyed over and over.

Sorry, but who can say that this exact area won't take a similar or even stronger hit THIS season?

For cryin' out loud - "it" finally happened, and a lot of people just want to set the pins back up for the next tropical bowling ball. And don't argue - look at the earlier activity this year - they seem to flow right up in there.

I know: I might as well be fiddlin' in the wind.

Rebuild and maybe sooner than we think, we'll be here again - same city, same victims and same pointless arguing.

We-are-so-smart... S-M-R-uh--A-R-T

Just curious. Did any of the storms last year affect you? Have you been hit by disasters made by nature before? Before I respond to your post(s) I'd like to know.

[aumoore]

There is one bid difference between the New Orleans/Mississippi Gulf Coast/Alabama Gulf Coast disaster and all the ones before it(1906, San Francisco earthquake, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Galveston, Chicago fire, Johnstown flood, the Plague, Rome Burning etc). The internet and network TV. In the old days news traveled by word of mouth, snail mail, telegraph, mayby the phone or good old B&W TV. Today we have instant coverage and in some cases live coverage of natural disasters. Before the authorities can get in place to analyize the situation and take action we have people looking at color pictures of death and destruction. Not only does the news travel at the speed of light today the public's reactions travels just as fast to each other and the world.

We all need to step back and take a breath. Most of us are reacting with emotions. We are upset that Americans are dying right before our eyes just like 9-11 but this time we cannot direct our anger at an enemy. Today the enemy is nature and so we lash out at who we can.

The Government is in place setting up camps, fighting looters, moving people to safer ground and evaluationg the best way to handle the situation. Over the next few months and years(yes I said years) a plan for NO will be developed. For now we need to show support and give what we can to our Gulf Coast neighbors.

If you really want to do something skip a night out on the town with the family and send the money saved to the charity of your choice. Turn out the lights when you are not using them. Try to conserve fuel.

The bitching needs to stop. (sorry moderators)

[donsutherland1]

Caribepr,

While the people of New Orleans and Louisiana and along the U.S. Gulf Coast suffer immensely in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, it is appalling that the pessimists are telling them that New Orleans should not be rebuilt.

If these pessimists were in charge, Galveston would not have been rebuilt after the 1900 hurricane, San Francisco would not have been rebuilt after the 1906 earthquake, San Juan would not have been rebuilt after the San Felipe hurricane of 1928, etc. Of course, the pessimists of today would probably claim that they would have supported rebuilding those cities. Easy to say now that they have been rebuilt. But their willingness to write off New Orleans even before the most cursory damage assessment has been undertaken speaks volumes to the contrary.

Yes, the scale of a disaster can be intimidating and the task of recovery difficult. But neither intimidation nor difficulty mean that a given task is impossible.

Sure, it's easy to cut and run in the face of adversity. Many have done just that throughout the course of history. If they were at the vanguard of society, much of human progress would not have occurred. All of our lives would be far worse.

Instead, society has progressed because entrepreneurs, inventors, scientists, leaders, have not founded their lives on what cannot be done. Society has advanced because these people have dared to build their lives on the proposition that something new can be done. These doers did not flee every setback. They persisted in their efforts, picking themselves up after each failure, to try and try again. In time, they succeeded. Thus, what was once beyond the realm of possibility and even beyond the imagination of many, became the fabric of everyday life.

At the time of this immense disaster, those suffering do not deserve to be told that their city and their homes will not be rebuilt. They deserve empathy and support to help them through their indescribably difficult period.

Fortunately, I have every confidence that though the pessimists might be trying to shout down those who do not subscribe to their dreary outlook on life, the vast majority of Americans and people throughout the world will be there for those now suffering.

Historical experience has disproved the pessimists time and again. It will again. New Orleans will rise from the muddy waters of Katrina. The people of New Orleans and Louisiana will not be abandoned.

[caribepr]

Caribepr,

While the people of New Orleans and Louisiana and along the U.S. Gulf Coast suffer immensely in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, it is appalling that the pessimists are telling them that New Orleans should not be rebuilt.

If these pessimists were in charge, Galveston would not have been rebuilt after the 1900 hurricane, San Francisco would not have been rebuilt after the 1906 earthquake, San Juan would not have been rebuilt after the San Felipe hurricane of 1928, etc. Of course, the pessimists of today would probably claim that they would have supported rebuilding those cities. Easy to say now that they have been rebuilt. But their willingness to write off New Orleans even before the most cursory damage assessment has been undertaken speaks volumes to the contrary.

Yes, the scale of a disaster can be intimidating and the task of recovery difficult. But neither intimidation nor difficulty mean that a given task is impossible.

Sure, it's easy to cut and run in the face of adversity. Many have done just that throughout the course of history. If they were at the vanguard of society, much of human progress would not have occurred. All of our lives would be far worse.

Instead, society has progressed because entrepreneurs, inventors, scientists, leaders, have not founded their lives on what cannot be done. Society has advanced because these people have dared to build their lives on the proposition that something new can be done. These doers did not flee every setback. They persisted in their efforts, picking themselves up after each failure, to try and try again. In time, they succeeded. Thus, what was once beyond the realm of possibility and even beyond the imagination of many, became the fabric of everyday life.

At the time of this immense disaster, those suffering do not deserve to be told that their city and their homes will not be rebuilt. They deserve empathy and support to help them through their indescribably difficult period.

Fortunately, I have every confidence that though the pessimists might be trying to shout down those who do not subscribe to their dreary outlook on life, the vast majority of Americans and people throughout the world will be there for those now suffering.

Historical experience has disproved the pessimists time and again. It will again. New Orleans will rise from the muddy waters of Katrina. The people of New Orleans and Louisiana will not be abandoned.

Thank you. And I agree with you completely. I'm sorry I didn't include a thanks for your previous post here. Yes, my emotions are high because I live in a place hit time and time again with strong storms, loss of life etc and it's been consuming all of us for days...as well as watching the weather out there and figuring if we get hit, we'll just have to hang together because too many resources (so it is, so it goes) will be needed elsewhere in mainland America.
I can't apologize for being emphatic about how I feel right now. I'm not sorry, and yes, I'm angry, horrified, disgusted and tired - EVERYTHING we do here in these days is tempered by SOMEONE saying...wah wah, shut up, look at what we have. In reference to what so many tonight do NOT have. Ok. I'll shut up now.
Again, thank you.

[donsutherland1]

Caribepr,

There's no need for you to apologize for your feelings. They're perfectly natural. It is caring people like you who truly make the world a better place, even during times of great difficulty.

Best wishes.

[beachbum_al]

NO and all of the towns on the Gulf Coast that are in shambles will rebuild and survive. They will never forget but they will come back stronger.

[JamesFromMaine2]

Lets face it N.O. and the whole Gulf Coast will NEVER be the same. They can rebuild their houses, towns, cities and ever else they want to build but it just won't be the same! The American people can stand by them or if they choice not stand by them but no matter what they will rebuild. How the rebuilding comes out and how fast it takes will be up to the people! If the people go in there ready to work and determind to make it better then before then it will come out better then before however if people are not supportive and not ready to work and don't want it better then it won't be! With N.O. I do think the safety of the people must come above all else and if that means relocating the city to some place else then that must be done! However I do feel that with a better plan in place before Katrina then alot of this wouldn't have happend!

[oneness]

A bottle of water is what most people want now, plus a shower, fresh clothes, a warm meal, and a secure place to sleep where they and relations won’t be attacked or harassed by the criminally insane. For those who have just been or are still are going through hell within N.O., I'd bet most of them currently don't care whether the city is rebuilt or not. They just want to get out of hell.

As for the repeated use of the San Francisco example, that city already has its head in the guillotine and is going to be largely catastrophically demolished in the relative ‘near-term’.

There will be no warning or evacuation when it occurs, just the news flash report that a cataclysm has occurred in SF. The warning has already been given a hundred years ago. You have to ask yourself, is that a good place to plant your family's roots deeply?

Frankly, I’d feel enormously safer living within a rebuilt and re-engineered NO, than in most of western California. At least in NO there’s adequate warning of the pending calamity and a very good chance for your family to evacuate prior.

It’ll be rebuilt, but many people won’t return, for one thing, significant numbers will be dead, families and businesses will not wait long in limbo for NO to come back online, they’ll just get on with life elsewhere, and many people will be afraid to return.

[arcticfire]

I have no problem with NOLA residents rebuilding their city , as long as they don't cripple the rest of the nation doing it on everyone elses dime. It's all fine and dandy to jump up and down and jump on the "can-do" train when your not the one footing the bill. I heard that the bill is in the neighborhood of 500 million dollars a DAY , and thats just right now trying to save lives and shelter people. With all the money donated by us in the past week since the hurricain (over 200million) does not even pay for 12 hours of the relief effort going right now, nevermind rebuilding later.Reality is , if the american people are forced to pay to rebuild that city via goverment funding it will cripple our economy. Nevermind the simple fact that even if we do , next year or any year after it could happen again if not worse if they rebuild in that same spot. You want my support and my tax dollars to rebuild , you better be talking about furthur north above sea level.

In any case, this is all a debate that really does not need to happen now. Right now the focus is on saving lives and making sure the former residents are fed , clothed , and have a roof over their heads.

Trust me there will be plenty of time to debate rebuilding when your congressmen start talking tax hikes to cover the bill.

[GalvestonDuck]

I know it will only be a drop in the bucket, but friends of mine were talking last night and we think tourism will help rebuild NOLA. They showed the FQ on Fox last night and it actually fared quite well. Someone said that it might be frowned upon by some, but NOLA will probably get the FQ up and running before the rest of the city even comes close to being livable (not before working on the rest of the city, of course, but the FQ will get done first). We all agreed that we loved visiting NOLA and we'd go back as soon as possible to salute the strength and determination of that city to rebuild.

[ncbird]

Thank you for those beautiful words full of hope. And when NOLA has made it comeback I will go there once again and yell

[MBismyPlayground]

Caribepr,

While the people of New Orleans and Louisiana and along the U.S. Gulf Coast suffer immensely in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, it is appalling that the pessimists are telling them that New Orleans should not be rebuilt.

If these pessimists were in charge, Galveston would not have been rebuilt after the 1900 hurricane, San Francisco would not have been rebuilt after the 1906 earthquake, San Juan would not have been rebuilt after the San Felipe hurricane of 1928, etc. Of course, the pessimists of today would probably claim that they would have supported rebuilding those cities. Easy to say now that they have been rebuilt. But their willingness to write off New Orleans even before the most cursory damage assessment has been undertaken speaks volumes to the contrary.

Yes, the scale of a disaster can be intimidating and the task of recovery difficult. But neither intimidation nor difficulty mean that a given task is impossible.

Sure, it's easy to cut and run in the face of adversity. Many have done just that throughout the course of history. If they were at the vanguard of society, much of human progress would not have occurred. All of our lives would be far worse.

Instead, society has progressed because entrepreneurs, inventors, scientists, leaders, have not founded their lives on what cannot be done. Society has advanced because these people have dared to build their lives on the proposition that something new can be done. These doers did not flee every setback. They persisted in their efforts, picking themselves up after each failure, to try and try again. In time, they succeeded. Thus, what was once beyond the realm of possibility and even beyond the imagination of many, became the fabric of everyday life.

At the time of this immense disaster, those suffering do not deserve to be told that their city and their homes will not be rebuilt. They deserve empathy and support to help them through their indescribably difficult period.

Fortunately, I have every confidence that though the pessimists might be trying to shout down those who do not subscribe to their dreary outlook on life, the vast majority of Americans and people throughout the world will be there for those now suffering.

Historical experience has disproved the pessimists time and again. It will again. New Orleans will rise from the muddy waters of Katrina. The people of New Orleans and Louisiana will not be abandoned.

Thank you. And I agree with you completely. I'm sorry I didn't include a thanks for your previous post here. Yes, my emotions are high because I live in a place hit time and time again with strong storms, loss of life etc and it's been consuming all of us for days...as well as watching the weather out there and figuring if we get hit, we'll just have to hang together because too many resources (so it is, so it goes) will be needed elsewhere in mainland America.
I can't apologize for being emphatic about how I feel right now. I'm not sorry, and yes, I'm angry, horrified, disgusted and tired - EVERYTHING we do here in these days is tempered by SOMEONE saying...wah wah, shut up, look at what we have. In reference to what so many tonight do NOT have. Ok. I'll shut up now.
Again, thank you.

Both of you guys, {{{HUGS}}} I totally agree with you both.
So easy for people in middle America to say NO WAY.... But what if was their home??? They would do whatever they could to rebuild.
How many areas have been hit by a tornado and totally destroyed?? Does anyone tell them to give up and find somewhere else to call HOME?? Nope, we all encourage rebuilding. As for New Orleans I will continue to encourage rebuilding......BIGGER, BETTER,STRONGER

If this is the answer to disasters, should we have said HELL NO do not rebuild the area that was devastated in Homestead(S. Miami), Punta Gordo, Galveston, New York City, ect????
Tell this to the city of Atlanta that was burned to the ground during the Civil War. And they did not have the technology that we have today.
We, as a nation, will overcome. Louisiana, as a state, will overcome. With the help and support of the people of the United States, New Orleans and Mississippi will also overcome.

[Jack8631]

Wonderful post(s) Don. New Orleans will be rebuilt with better levee systems. Of course, it won't be the same. When you are looking at the trillions of dollars it will take to make it happen, most of that money will be spent on materials produced in other parts of the country and salaries for people that right this minute have nothing, and need jobs. Everything from construction workers to health care professionals will be in high demand. The rebuilding of that great city might be a financial burden in the short term, but will more than pay for itself down the road. Besides, the residents of New Orleans would do the same for any of us. I know they would.